Slynt investigated the seeming unending darkness with slight bemusement, wondering just how many sane people would have turned back at the prospect of having to explore such a place. The Silver-haired man had opted to swap out his typical white undershirt and jacket for a black undershirt under a jacket far more suitable for the wilderness, let alone underground exploration. His typical outfit was not well suited to the wilderness, let alone exploring caves such as this one. He opened his scroll, double checking the relevant information on the caves in question, as well as caves on the island of Bellmuse themselves.
There wasn’t as much as he would hope for, there were apparently quite a few cave networks in the mountains of the small country, ranging from natural formations to abandoned mines. With the occasional person going missing within these networks, likely their own curiosity getting the better of them.
Slynt wouldn’t have taken any interest in the Major mission board at all normally, after all it had mostly seemed to be additional work one would need to go out of their way to do. However, understanding one’s environment could be important and the caves of Bellmuse were certainly vast enough to prove useful for him.
The information he’d gathered had revealed as much considering smugglers would utilize them both to transport illegal goods throughout the island as well as by allowing for suitably difficult to find hiding places to store such goods. Criminals similarly used them for hideouts on occasion, something that had also piqued the information broker’s interests.
The fact that the major mission gave him the opportunity to inspect the caverns without needing an excuse for being there, and even to acquire the appropriate equipment for such an expedition into the caves.
He could easily find use for the knowledge, whether it be if he himself needed to avoid capture or pursuing others. Not even considering other uses, a good temporary place to store potentially volatile resources if necessary.
The Silver haired man smirked as he turned on the headlamp to the miner’s helmet he’d acquired before coming here. The cave itself wasn’t marked on any maps, though whether it connected to an already discovered network or simply led nowhere was undetermined yet.
Slynt looked at the ground of the cavern entrance before, going much further however taking a few moments to analyze it before nodding to himself. One had to be careful when exploring caves with the creatures of Grimm about. Especially since it wasn’t unheard of for said creatures to make their homes in such places. There didn’t appear to be any signs of this from this cave however. A conclusion that could easily prove false, however the risk was lower than it could be, and thus Slynt proceeded into the cavern.
The cave itself seemed to be naturally formed, the strange quiet of the cavernous space seeming somewhat foreign to the silver-haired criminal. The plants seemed to stop shortly at the cave’s entrance which made sense to the criminal. Such things needed light to survive, and the cave unfortunately did not provide such a resource. The cave itself appeared to descend downwards, at a steep incline that while still passable, would no doubt require some degree of effort to come back through.
The cave walls themselves were slippery, almost dangerously slow had he not already investigated this a good bit, and as such he’d made sure to wear boots that would provide him with decent grip.
As a result, the silver haired man was able to continue unhindered, and eventually was able to reach a point where the cave appeared to level out somewhat. There appeared to be multiple pathways from this point on, Slynt noted. It appeared a large underground cavern, one which had numerous other caves that opened into it.
Some of which appeared more burrowed that others, perhaps by a Grimm? There was certainly that possibility, as the creatures of grimm could take many shapes in his experience. Including types that could fly or dig, though the question of whether this creature was still around was also relevant. After all Grimm didn’t tend to go unnoticed for extended periods of time.
A chalk symbol at the side of one cave drew the criminal’s notice however, it appeared to be a marker, one that was…unlikely to have been left by the Grimm. Another cave seemed to have a similar marking, though with the addition of a sun. Slynt presumed that to be hinting to be a way outside. Slynt went over to the marking lacking the symbol.
“I see…” Slynt commented to himself, putting the symbols into what he already knew. Apparently a grimm had likely burrowed a good deal of the tunnels in this area, though the relatively recent marking indicated said Grimm was likely no longer here or had long since abandoned by the creature in any case. The Tunnel he had come into had appeared natural however…perhaps it had just happened to connect to those made by the creature.
Regardless it appeared somebody was using these tunnels for something, likely smugglers using them for storage or transportation from one point of the island to the other. Either was a possibility, though it could just as easily have had a different purpose he had yet to truly conceive of. Of course, it could also have been simple explorers like himself who had made the markings. He’d have to investigate it, naturally.
This would require more information…however Slynt knew it would be best not to remain in these tunnels, making his way to the other marked tunnel, the one with the sun marking.
The exit tunnel was much shorter than his entrance into the underground, indicating that he hadn’t traveled as far underground as possible. The exit itself appeared soon after, opening somewhere in the forest. A fact he’d known long before the actual act of exiting by the blue plants that were present in and around the cave entrance.
Slynt felt this little expedition was quite educational, though probably not in the way the academy would expect. “It appears I’ve found something interesting.” He thought to himself, as he stepped into the waiting forest. With that the criminal decided to make his way back to the academy, fortunate that one of the taller buildings of the institution was visible. It seemed he had quite a bit of walking ahead of him for now.
There wasn’t as much as he would hope for, there were apparently quite a few cave networks in the mountains of the small country, ranging from natural formations to abandoned mines. With the occasional person going missing within these networks, likely their own curiosity getting the better of them.
Slynt wouldn’t have taken any interest in the Major mission board at all normally, after all it had mostly seemed to be additional work one would need to go out of their way to do. However, understanding one’s environment could be important and the caves of Bellmuse were certainly vast enough to prove useful for him.
The information he’d gathered had revealed as much considering smugglers would utilize them both to transport illegal goods throughout the island as well as by allowing for suitably difficult to find hiding places to store such goods. Criminals similarly used them for hideouts on occasion, something that had also piqued the information broker’s interests.
The fact that the major mission gave him the opportunity to inspect the caverns without needing an excuse for being there, and even to acquire the appropriate equipment for such an expedition into the caves.
He could easily find use for the knowledge, whether it be if he himself needed to avoid capture or pursuing others. Not even considering other uses, a good temporary place to store potentially volatile resources if necessary.
The Silver haired man smirked as he turned on the headlamp to the miner’s helmet he’d acquired before coming here. The cave itself wasn’t marked on any maps, though whether it connected to an already discovered network or simply led nowhere was undetermined yet.
Slynt looked at the ground of the cavern entrance before, going much further however taking a few moments to analyze it before nodding to himself. One had to be careful when exploring caves with the creatures of Grimm about. Especially since it wasn’t unheard of for said creatures to make their homes in such places. There didn’t appear to be any signs of this from this cave however. A conclusion that could easily prove false, however the risk was lower than it could be, and thus Slynt proceeded into the cavern.
The cave itself seemed to be naturally formed, the strange quiet of the cavernous space seeming somewhat foreign to the silver-haired criminal. The plants seemed to stop shortly at the cave’s entrance which made sense to the criminal. Such things needed light to survive, and the cave unfortunately did not provide such a resource. The cave itself appeared to descend downwards, at a steep incline that while still passable, would no doubt require some degree of effort to come back through.
The cave walls themselves were slippery, almost dangerously slow had he not already investigated this a good bit, and as such he’d made sure to wear boots that would provide him with decent grip.
As a result, the silver haired man was able to continue unhindered, and eventually was able to reach a point where the cave appeared to level out somewhat. There appeared to be multiple pathways from this point on, Slynt noted. It appeared a large underground cavern, one which had numerous other caves that opened into it.
Some of which appeared more burrowed that others, perhaps by a Grimm? There was certainly that possibility, as the creatures of grimm could take many shapes in his experience. Including types that could fly or dig, though the question of whether this creature was still around was also relevant. After all Grimm didn’t tend to go unnoticed for extended periods of time.
A chalk symbol at the side of one cave drew the criminal’s notice however, it appeared to be a marker, one that was…unlikely to have been left by the Grimm. Another cave seemed to have a similar marking, though with the addition of a sun. Slynt presumed that to be hinting to be a way outside. Slynt went over to the marking lacking the symbol.
“I see…” Slynt commented to himself, putting the symbols into what he already knew. Apparently a grimm had likely burrowed a good deal of the tunnels in this area, though the relatively recent marking indicated said Grimm was likely no longer here or had long since abandoned by the creature in any case. The Tunnel he had come into had appeared natural however…perhaps it had just happened to connect to those made by the creature.
Regardless it appeared somebody was using these tunnels for something, likely smugglers using them for storage or transportation from one point of the island to the other. Either was a possibility, though it could just as easily have had a different purpose he had yet to truly conceive of. Of course, it could also have been simple explorers like himself who had made the markings. He’d have to investigate it, naturally.
This would require more information…however Slynt knew it would be best not to remain in these tunnels, making his way to the other marked tunnel, the one with the sun marking.
The exit tunnel was much shorter than his entrance into the underground, indicating that he hadn’t traveled as far underground as possible. The exit itself appeared soon after, opening somewhere in the forest. A fact he’d known long before the actual act of exiting by the blue plants that were present in and around the cave entrance.
Slynt felt this little expedition was quite educational, though probably not in the way the academy would expect. “It appears I’ve found something interesting.” He thought to himself, as he stepped into the waiting forest. With that the criminal decided to make his way back to the academy, fortunate that one of the taller buildings of the institution was visible. It seemed he had quite a bit of walking ahead of him for now.
